A monitoring program is essential in assuring goal attainment and reducing the risk of overtraining or undertraining, establishing long-term athlete development, and ensuring success. This monitoring program needs to be integrated into the training process, developed, and executed by both the sport science and coaching staff. This staff forms the SPEG (sports performance enhancement group), which is athlete centered and coach driven. The purpose of this dissertation was to create an evidence based, or white box approach, to collegiate distance running by identifying key characteristics, utilizing appropriate monitoring tools, and examining the annual plan. Collegiate distance runners took part in a monitoring program through East Tennessee State University, which included vertical jumps, V̇O2max, running economy, anthropometrics, isometric mid-thigh pull, performance results and ultrasound measurements. There were strong correlations between performance results and monitoring data, and there were significant changes that occurred throughout the monitoring program. The results indicate the importance of V̇O2max in collegiate runners and that monitoring variables, including performance, sum of skinfolds, ultrasound and vertical jumps significantly change throughout the competitive season. The results also identify characteristics of a high-level runner and indicate the impact that a strength program can have on monitoring variables and performance. Results further suggest that strength can be a critical component of a training program, can be tracked through systematic monitoring, and is associated with an increase in performance.